We made gingerbread houses during the recent holiday season. The 5 year old son of our niece visited and noted the round peppermint candy on the side of the house which was decorated as a happy face. He declared to all of us, “Look, it’s an emoji.” One of his siblings disagreed but the inter-generational vocabulary differences, that are part of our world, were obvious that morning. We had a good laugh.

Today we commemorate David’s 33rd birthday! It has been miraculous how the Lord has sustained and uplifted our family since David left this world over five years ago. Oh how we love and miss dear David. Nevertheless, the Lord’s plan that seals families together, throughout the eternities, has brought us much joy and peace, peace that passeth all understanding.

President Nelson recently taught the doctrine of joy in this mortal life when he said:

“That’s it! Saints can be happy under every circumstance. We can feel joy even while having a bad day, a bad week, or even a bad year! My dear brothers and sisters, the joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives. When the focus of our lives is on God’s plan of salvation…..and Jesus Christ and His gospel, we can feel joy regardless of what is happening—or not happening—in our lives. Joy comes from and because of Him. He is the source of all joy.”

Certainly, there is scientific explanation for the occurrence of rainbows but why does God allow these beautiful scenes to appear briefly on His canvas before our eyes? White light, when passed through a prism, breaks down into the various colors of the rainbow. Jesus Christ is the light of the world, and His light is pure and white. His light encompasses all of the righteous elements we can strive for in this life. Each of the values in the Young Women’s theme is represented by a color. As we strive to develop these values, represented by rainbow colors, we grow closer to the Savior, the source of pure, white light. White represents faith, blue–divine nature, red–individual worth, green–knowledge, orange–choice and accountability, yellow–good works, purple–integrity, and gold–virtue. Why rainbows? All things denote there is a God, and the rainbow is no exception.

We often go through life with our “nose to the grindstone,” missing out on the beauty that surrounds us. Even from this tiny perch in the universe, that we call earth, we can appreciate the grandeur of God’s creations. May our view be upwards and may our eyes be aware of the great blessings from God that surround us each day.

We all get hurt by the thoughtless and even spiteful acts of others. This can bring tremendous heartache to our lives as we deal with the injustices of mortality. But we have not been sent here to wallow in the pain of life’s unfairness. I love the words of Elder Kevin Duncan from a recent conference. Speaking of the Savior, he said: “He has taught us that we can forgive! Even though we may be a victim once, we need not be a victim twice by carrying the burden of hate, bitterness, pain, resentment, or even revenge. We can forgive, and we can be free!” May we allow the healing balm of the Savior’s atonement to heal not only those of us who repent, but also those of us who forgive. We can see the bright and beautiful world around us even in the face of serious unjustness in our lives.